Happy Friday, friends and followers. Here’s what’s happening in the world today:
Indian Snake charmer adult man in turban playing on musical instrument before snake at a basket
A court in India has ruled that Hindus have no right to worship King Cobras, calling it a violation of India’s Wildlife Protection Act.
Salem, Mass. (of the infamous witch trials) says that evangelical Gordon College can no longer rent the historic Old Town Hall because of the school’s opposition to a pending executive order that would ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in federal contracts.
Gays and lesbians *might* soon be able to get married in Key West after a judge struck down Florida’s ban on gay marriage; the decision was quickly appealed by the state’s GOP leaders. The Utah gay marriage case, meanwhile, seems headed directly to the Supreme Court.
Ticked off about the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision and cracks in the wall of separation between church and state? A leading secular group wants you to “knit a brick.” NJ Gov. Chris Christie, meanwhile, says he’s cool with the Hobby Lobby decision (while fishing for votes in Iowa).
Remember Todd Akin, the Missouri Senate candidate who doomed his candidacy with talk of “legitimate rape”? He says there was some serious spiritual warfare afoot.
Our own Jonathan Merritt talks with author Preston Sprinkle about what American Christians have gotten wrong about grace.
Followers of Islam’s mystical Sufi tradition are pressing Italian designer Roberto Cavalli to drop a logo that they say looks too much like their own. So far, Cavalli isn’t budging.
The Forward talks to Hollywood scion Jake Kasdan about what a nice Jewish boy is doing making a film called “Sex Tape.”
Remember the lesbian woman who was fired as director of a Catholic food pantry because she’s, well, a lesbian? She’s filed suit against the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
Kenyan Catholic bishops are facing a lawsuit from a Somali man who claims the lease for his restaurant (in a church-owned building) was cancelled because he’s a Muslim. The bishops say there’s a security threat in opening a Muslim establishment in the church building.
And with that, we can see the weekend just around the corner. Stay with @RNS and the daily Roundup to keep you up to date on everything you need to know in religion news.
